Compassionate Collaboration, Christian Mission and the Bank of Dave

A glimpse of Jesus’ compassion appears in Matthew 9:35-38. In one of the more well-known images of Christian witness, Jesus responds to crowds “harassed and helpless” with a call for collaborators (“Ask the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest” (38)). The verses in Matthew are one of a cluster of Gospel narratives in which Jesus is described as a shepherd, sent by God to strengthen the weak and heal those damaged by sin, greed and betrayal.[1]

A contemporary image of compassion and collaboration appears in a recent movie, Bank of Dave (2023). Movies, along with other forms of popular culture, are not commonly used as a resource for theological reflection in practical theology.[2] However, movies work with lived experience, as stories are told and heard. Hence, movies can offer significant resources for inter-disciplinary theological reflection. Dialogue between the mission of Jesus and how compassion and collaboration emerge in Bank of Dave provides resources for practical theology and invites reflection on the nature and shape of contemporary Christian theology.

“Harassed and helpless” in contemporary culture

Netflix released Bank of Dave in early 2023. Directed by Chris Foggin, the movie deftly weaves youthful romance, feel-good music vibes and creative responses to economic injustice.

The movie’s main character is Burnley businessman Dave Fishwick (Rory Kinnear). In real life, Dave was a high school dropout. He found work as a labourer and began to fix cars as a side project. The cars turned into vans, then buses. Dave found success running a vehicle rehabilitation business.

However, during the 2008 global financial crisis, banks stopped lending money. “They just stopped lending to businesses…All they wanted to do was send money to America to buy credit default swaps, invest in stocks, shares and risky investments…they lost their way,” said Dave Fishwick in describing the economic impact of banking behaviour in his local community. [3]

In real life and the movie, Dave did his research. “We’ve got Google up here you know,” is one of several great lines in Bank of Dave. A lawyer is recruited (Joel Fry in the movie, Keith Arrowsmith in real life), and Dave applies to start his own bank. “I’ll open a community bank run by the community, owned by the community … “old-fashioned banking”.”[4]

In real life, Burnley Savings and Loans was to become the first new bank in England in over 150 years. What motivated Dave’s response was compassion. In the wake of the global financial crisis of 2008, Dave sees his community as harassed and helpless.

Compassion in mission

Matthew 9:35-38 locates the mission of Jesus in compassion and collaborative action. The mission of Jesus, in words (preaching and teaching) and deeds (healing), emerges from a heart of compassion, from seeing people “harassed and helpless” (9:36).

The preceding chapters describe the nature of Jesus’ words and deeds motivated by compassion. In chapters 5 through 7, the teachings of Jesus are summarised in the Beatitudes and Sermon on the Mount. In chapters 8 and 9, the deeds of Jesus include touching the skin of a man with leprosy, healing the sick, eating with tax collectors and sinners and calming a storm. It is compassion for the harassed and helpless that motivates the mission of Jesus.

Contemporary compassion

In Bank of Dave, the dream of a bank begins with small moments of compassion. Dave’s first loan is to Maureen (Cathy Tyson), who needs help with funeral expenses. When Dave offers Maureen money, she refuses a gift. Amid her grief, she tells Dave she will only accept a loan. It is important to her sense of being to be empowered in her grief.

The loan offers insight into how compassion can be misguided. We are all human. We all have times when we are overwhelmed. Yet hearts moved with compassion can respond with words and deeds that create dependency. Equally, through offering a loan, not a gift, people feel empowered. Dave learns as he listens to those in need.

In a compelling scene in Bank of Dave, Dave walks Hugh, the lawyer from London, through the streets of Burnley. They meet a busker who needed a loan to pay for his sound gear, a brewer who needed a loan to brew local beer and a baker who needed a loan to make pies. In each case, by loaning money, Dave gives a hand up, not a handout.

Bank of Dave offers an image of contemporary compassion as it contextualises what compassionate action in our communities can look like today. Jobs are created as local initiatives are empowered.

Collaboration in mission

In Matthew 9, compassion is expressed through collaboration. With a heart of compassion (9:36), Jesus seeks partners. “Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field” (9:38). 

The verses occur at a crucial transition in the ministry of Jesus. In the next chapter, Jesus will commission the disciples (10:1-5). But before he calls the twelve disciples. Jesus speaks of the need for “workers” in the “harvest field.” 

The translation of Matthew 9:38 in te reo Maori, the indigenous language of the first peoples of Aoteroa New Zealand, is informative. “Workers” is translated as “kaimahi.” “Mahi” is a word for work, while “kai” is a word for food and a prefix to describe action.[5] It is a beautiful word play on 9:37, and a plentiful harvest. Jesus’ prayer for “kai mahi,” for food workers to share in mission, to offer words and deeds of compassion to the harassed and helpless, comes before Jesus calls the twelve disciples.

The order seems significant. It is tempting to leave the work of the church to a special few people, whether twelve disciples or an ordained minister. Churches without ministers are often considered less significant than churches with ministers. Yet Matthew 9 locates Jesus’ compassionate as the opportunity for food workers to collaborate in mission. Anyone who, like Jesus has compassion, can partner in deeds and through words.

Collaboration in contemporary mission

Several plot twists in Bank of Dave reveal the power of collaboration and the nature of “kaimahi” in contemporary compassion (warning: plot spoilers).

The first twist is the granting of Dave’s application to establish a bank. To the surprise of many, the banking regulators grant approval.

In a second twist, the regulators require an initial float of £12 million. Dave offers his life savings and borrows on his house. But he still lacks the needed amount. The regulators deadline looms.

In a third twist, Dave and the lawyer from London plan a community concert. People can pay to hear Def Leppard live at Burnley Football stadium for the first time ever. Entry is £35.

In a fourth twist, Dave invites concert goers to consider paying £100 and invest that £65 in the float of the bank. If not enough money is raised, people get the £65 back.

Which, like Jesus in Matthew 9:38, turns compassion into a collaborative project. As people from the Burnley community each loan £65, Dave’s bank becomes Burnley’s bank. A bank owned by the community, run by the community, all profits to the community.

A practical theology of compassionate collaboration

Theologian and Church of England minister Samuel Wells provides important resources in thinking theologically about the relationship between compassion and collaboration. Wells draws attention to how God is both for and with us.[6] In Romans 8:31-32, God is for us in sending Jesus. In Matthew 1:23, Jesus is declared as Emmanuel, God with us. 

Sam Well applies this to the ministry and mission of the church. Jesus is working for us on the cross to solve the problems of human isolation from God. Hence, those who follow Christ are empowered by the Spirit to respond to needs in the community. This involves using our resources and networks for others in words and deeds of compassion.

Equally, those who follow Christ are invited to be with people. Jesus spent 30 years being with the people of Nazareth as a child and carpenter. These years of being with a community are essential to Jesus’ ministry of Incarnation. The thirty years are followed by three years of Jesus workingwith the disciples in ministry, calling and empowering them as “kaimahi” in mission and ministry. Hence, those who follow Christ are empowered by the Spirit to spend time with people, growing with them in community. This involves being present with people who might be challenging and uncomfortable, sitting with people in silent solidarity even when there is nothing we can do or say.

Jesus as for and with are evident in Matthew 9. Jesus is for people who are harassed and helpless and mobilises the “kaimahi” to be resources in the harvest. Jesus is with people, for example, as he eats with Matthew at his house (9:10).

With and for in the Bank of Dave

So is Dave with and for the community in Burnley? Dave is undoubtedly for the community, as he works to establish a community bank. As a local boy, Dave has been with the community as labourer, business owner and in loaning “handups.”

Yet, as the movie concludes, the final series of plot twists, show Dave reaching the end of his resources. He has to learn new ways to be with his community, as the Burnley community offer him a “handup” to make the bank a reality.

From a Christian perspective, what makes Bank of Dave interesting is how this way of being is given a theological frame. As Dave tries to raise £12 million, Maureen dies and Dave attends her funeral.

During the funeral, a Vicar shares the well-worn poem, “Footprints.”[7] The poem describes a person who sees two pairs of footprints in the sand, one belonging to God and another to themselves. At some points, the two pairs of footprints dwindle to one. When they ask why, it is explained that these are moments when God carried the protagonist. 

The poem illuminates how Dave and the Burnley community have been walking together. Dave is realising that he lacks the funds to begin the bank. At this moment, with his resources at an end, Dave finds himself carried by the Burnley community. As thousands of people put in an extra £65, they are carrying Dave and carrying the bank.

Compassionate collaboration is suddenly reversed. Being with includes times when those who minister experience compassion and collaboration. Dave might be the movie’s leading individual actor, but the Burnley community become the movie’s strongest collective character. Their footprints carry Dave’s bank to reality.

This collaborative community carrying that is portrayed so powerfully in the Bank of Dave also occur as the mission and ministry of Jesus reaches a climax. We do not often think of Jesus being carried. Yet Joseph of Arimathea carries the body of Jesus (Matthew 27:59), while Mary Magadalene and Mary remain with the broken body of Jesus (27:61).

Jesus who sends his disciples into all the world (28:19-20) has himself been carried by the “kaimahi.” It is surprising yet powerful insight into the nature of compassion and the depths of collaboration possible amongst those who participate with Christ in ministry and mission. 

---

References

[1] See also Mark 6:34, Matthew 18:12-14, Luke 15:3-7. For more on the shepherd as an image of Christian witness, see Stanley Skreslet, Picturing Christian Witness: New Testament Images of Disciples in Mission (Eerdmans, 2006), 155-190.

[2] Exceptions include Pete Ward, Gods Behaving Badly (Baylor University Press 2011) and Darren Cronshaw, “Resisting the Empire in Young Adult Fiction: Lessons from Hunger Games,” International Journal of Public Theology, vol. 13, no. 2: 119-139.

[3] Chris Schulz, “Advice for surviving tough economic times, from a bloke who started his own bank,” https://thespinoff.co.nz/pop-culture/08-06-2023/advice-for-surviving-tough-economic-times-from-a-bloke-who-started-his-own-bank, The Spinoff, (8/6/2023).

[4] Schultz, The Spinoff.

[5] Te Paipera Tapu: The Holy Bible (Bible Society, 2012). For translation of words see https://maoridictionary.co.nz/.

[6] Samuel Wells, Incarnational Ministry: Being with the Church (Eerdmans, 2017). For a short online introduction, see “Sam Wells: Being with,” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2Zci7KBXms. For a sermon that also works with a contemporary film, see “God is with us | Sam Wells | Focus 2014,” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ruhx6Gm2l9w.

[7] Authorship is disputed. For more, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Footprints_(poem).

---

© Steve Taylor, 2024.

This work is licensed under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0).

Cover Image: Photo by Shane Rounce on Unsplash, free to use under the Unsplash License.